TELECOM Digest Sun, 22 Feb 2004 23:35:00 EST Volume 23 : Issue 87 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: A Photographic History of Ameritech (TELECOM Digest Editor) Re: The Virus Underground (Nick Landsberg) Re: The Virus Underground (Mark Crispin) Re: Quest to Offer "Naked DSL" (Tony P.) Re: Internet Phones, 911 Systems Could Clash (Tony P.) Re: Question About 802.11g Wireless Router/Signal Booster (S. Peterson) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 22:57:22 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Book Review: A Photographic History of Ameritech Did you know 'Ameritech' originally stood for '(AM)erican (I)nformation (TECH)nologies, Inc.? You will learn that and a lot more in a recent book "A Photographic History of Ameritech". Subtitled 'Snapshots in Time', this photgraphic essay of the companies which make up the present day north-central region of SBC is a brilliant presentation of how our past evolved into our present. Written and compiled by William D. Caughlin, the manager of Ameritech Corporate Archives, with co-authors Brian F. Coffey and Ilana N. Pergam, this 200-page large size paperback book uses pictures to tell the story of the history of telephone service from its beginning in 1876 through the end of 1999, when Ameritech (or Illinois Bell as most of us knew it) became part of SBC, or what we knew as Southwestern Bell. When Alex Bell invented the telephone in March, 1876, many considered it just a novelty, an electrical toy. Everyone -- at least all readers of this Digest -- are aware of how Western Union essentially thumbed its nose at the invention, a snub that about a century later would put it out of business, along with email showing up a few years later. The Chicago Telephonic Exchange was founded on June 26, 1878 to serve the needs of Chicago businessmen. When the general public also wanted phone service, the Chicago Telephonic Exchange merged with a competitor to form the Chicago Telephone Company, in business from 1881 through 1920 to provide local service around the city. About the same time, (1883-1920) Central Union Telephone Company started offering service in other parts of northern and central Illinois. Actually ahead of Chicago by about 9 months (it started in October, 1877) was the Michigan Telephone and Telegraph Construction Company, which was the nation's first Bell Operating Company. Like Chicago, their first interest was private line service for businesses, but on August 5, 1878 the Detroit Telephonic Exchange opened for business. During 1879, telephone exchanges were established in several towns throughout Michigan, and after two years, in 1881, these various Michigan exchanges were affiliated in the Michigan Bell Telephone Company, and two years following that, in 1883 (through 1904) the Michigan Telephone Company was formed. Then comes January, 1879 and the Columbus, Ohio Telephone Exchange. By the end of 1879, there were cities all over Ohio with phone service. It was about that time, that telephone switchboards were started. In the earliest days telephones were all connected directly to each other: in other words if company A had a phone and company B had a phone and Company C wanted to talk to A and B they had to have two telephones, one each to A and B. Multiply that by the number of companies in Chicago alone and you can see why the skies overhead were black with telephone wires running in all directions. Most companies had a phone to most other companies, so typically there were wires running through the air everywhere. Ditto in Detroit, Cleveland and elsewhere. In March, 1879, Ameritech's first predecessor in Indiana -- the Indiana District Telephone Company began operations in Indianapolis. It eventually became part of the Central Union Telephone Company and had phone exchanges all over the state. Milwaukee's first switchboard opened in 1879, and in July, 1882 (through 1983) the Wisconsin Telephone Company was incorporated to serve that state. These five companies -- Central Union, Chicago Telephone, Cleveland Telephone, Michigan Telephone and Wisconsin Telephone became known as Associated Companies in the Bell System, and that is what this photographic essay is all about: The 1876 through 1999 period as those five companies were born, developed, merged then merged again and (as Ameritech) had still another merger into Southwestern Bell Telephone Company which then changed its name into SBC. The rapid expansion of telephone service in those early years brought with it the need for many skilled employees, especially operators. Although the first operators were young men, it soon became apparent that the subscribers preferred women in this role. Women soon became the switchboard operators, and men handled installation and maintain- ence. But around 1972, the companies began once again employing young men as operators in Directory Assistance and elsewhere. Page 139 in this book shows a young man at work in Directory Assistance in Dayton, Ohio. Caughlin and his associates picked through nearly one hundred thousand pictures in their archives and present several hundred of them in this fascinating book along with some text to place all the pictures in context. The book is broken into several parts, covering these periods of time: 1876-1899 1900-1939 1940-1969 1970-1999 and in addition a section is devoted to Ameritech's lineage. You may wish to order one or more personal copies for your library. The SBC Archives and History Center is pleased to offer the book entitled, Snapshots in Time: A Photographic History of Ameritech. This 192-page soft-cover book chronicles the evolution of telecommunications in the SBC Midwest (former Ameritech) five-state region through select historical images. It offers more than 225 captioned photos of switchboard operators, crews with their vehicles and technicians testing central office equipment. The book begins with an 1876 portrait of Alexander Graham Bell and ends in 1999, on the eve of the SBC/Ameritech merger. The cost for each book is $25.00, plus $4.95 for shipping. To order, fill out the form below. If you have questions, please call Bill Caughlin at (210) 524-6192. Or send him an e-mail at wc2942@sbc.com --------------------------------------------------------------- ORDER FORM FOR Snapshots in Time: A Photographic History of Ameritech NAME __________________________________________________ BUSINESS UNIT ________________________________________ ADDRESS _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ CITY _________________________ STATE _____ ZIP __________ PHONE NUMBER (______)_________________________ I would like to order _______ copy(ies) each at $25.00, plus $4.95 shipping, for a total of _____________. No cash, please. Make your check or money order payable to SBC Services, Inc. and send it to: SBC Archives and History Center 7990 IH-10 West Floor 1 San Antonio, Texas 78230 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This review will go in the Telecom Archives section on history for future reference. You may wish to visit the history section in the archives http://telecom-digest.org and check out several interesting files there about the history of the telephone, etc. I am in the process now of attempting to establish an online museum of telephone history with pictures, etc. I'll need readers help to do it however. PAT] ------------------------------